Thursday, June 15, 2006
Jumping on the Mets bandwagon
All of a sudden, baseball pundits have anointed the Mets to the top of the world, ma. Well, close Met watchers could've seen it coming. They blew away teams this spring and have held first place since the opening week of the season. All it took was for GM Omar Minaya to solve the back end of the rotation and for the team to begin hitting on all cylinders. Well, he did and they are.
The team's current 7-game winning streak has catapulted them to best-team-in-baseball status. Last night's rain-delayed 9-3 victory over the suddenly hapless Phillies pushed them .005 points past the Tigers. At 41-23 (.641), they're now an astonishing 8.5 games ahead of the Phils and 12 ahead of the Braves. This has stat worms looking back to 1988, the last time the Mets held such a big lead so early in the season. That team lost to the Dodgers in the playoffs.
Lately, it's all been about the Mets' hitting. Despite back-to-back poor perfomances by ace Tom Glavine (9-2), they've piled up wins with first-inning rallies that are fast building the Mets' arrogant reputation, a sure sign of '86-style bravado. David Wright (.336, 13 HRs, 47 RBI) is en route to a starting All-Star birth at 3B, with "NL Player of the Week" CF Carlos Beltran (.300, 18 HRs, 52 RBI) following sharply on his heels. 1B Carlos Delgado (.268, 19 HRs, 49 RBI), right in the middle of that lineup sandwich, will likely join them on the All-Star squad (with Glavine). Meanwile, SS Jose Reyes is scoring runs at a fabulous clip, and contributions from C Paul Lo Duca (also a potential All-Star) and rejuvenated 2B Jose Valentin, as well as from substitute outfielders Endy Chavez and Lastings Milledge, can't be ignored either. Right now, the Mets' biggest problem is what to do with Cliff Floyd and Xavier Nady when they both return from the DL.
This afternoon, the Mets shoot for the sweep in Philly and an 8-game streak: Steve Trachsel (3-4) vs. Cory Lidle (4-5), 1:05 pm start on SNY & WFAN. On Friday, they'll kick off a 7-game home stand against the Orioles and Reds.
PROGRAMMING NOTE
I'll be covering the Bonnaroo music festival in Tennessee this weekend. The lineup is stellar. Look for daily reports.
The team's current 7-game winning streak has catapulted them to best-team-in-baseball status. Last night's rain-delayed 9-3 victory over the suddenly hapless Phillies pushed them .005 points past the Tigers. At 41-23 (.641), they're now an astonishing 8.5 games ahead of the Phils and 12 ahead of the Braves. This has stat worms looking back to 1988, the last time the Mets held such a big lead so early in the season. That team lost to the Dodgers in the playoffs.Lately, it's all been about the Mets' hitting. Despite back-to-back poor perfomances by ace Tom Glavine (9-2), they've piled up wins with first-inning rallies that are fast building the Mets' arrogant reputation, a sure sign of '86-style bravado. David Wright (.336, 13 HRs, 47 RBI) is en route to a starting All-Star birth at 3B, with "NL Player of the Week" CF Carlos Beltran (.300, 18 HRs, 52 RBI) following sharply on his heels. 1B Carlos Delgado (.268, 19 HRs, 49 RBI), right in the middle of that lineup sandwich, will likely join them on the All-Star squad (with Glavine). Meanwile, SS Jose Reyes is scoring runs at a fabulous clip, and contributions from C Paul Lo Duca (also a potential All-Star) and rejuvenated 2B Jose Valentin, as well as from substitute outfielders Endy Chavez and Lastings Milledge, can't be ignored either. Right now, the Mets' biggest problem is what to do with Cliff Floyd and Xavier Nady when they both return from the DL.
This afternoon, the Mets shoot for the sweep in Philly and an 8-game streak: Steve Trachsel (3-4) vs. Cory Lidle (4-5), 1:05 pm start on SNY & WFAN. On Friday, they'll kick off a 7-game home stand against the Orioles and Reds.
PROGRAMMING NOTE
I'll be covering the Bonnaroo music festival in Tennessee this weekend. The lineup is stellar. Look for daily reports.
Comments:
<< Home
Tennessee, eh?
Sounds awesome, Bloom. You covering for anyone? Well, in any case, I hope you brought plenty of t.p. The jam band/hippie dippy thing is cool as shit until you have to wipe your tukis with a tree branch.
Have fun,
Brian Abrams
Post a Comment
Sounds awesome, Bloom. You covering for anyone? Well, in any case, I hope you brought plenty of t.p. The jam band/hippie dippy thing is cool as shit until you have to wipe your tukis with a tree branch.
Have fun,
Brian Abrams
# posted by 
: 7:32 PM
: 7:32 PM << Home
